My life in pictures....

These are some people protesting...there is some tension going on between Japan and China right now.  They are fighting over some island.  I am not going to go into details.  I am sure you can find info on google, if you so desire.  I saw these peaceful protesters outside of Laoshi's window when I was painting. 

Soldiers there to keep the peace...

Here is my adorable friend Han Fei.  She took me to the Taiwan International Expo last weekend.  It was an expo of all Taiwanese products

They had these gorgeous orchids...the pic does not do them justice.  They were huge....this one was probably about 4 feet long.

loved the way these yellow lovelies looked hanging from glass vases

they had this awesome wood furniture

and these cool wooden jars and buddahs....I wanted it all!

some more gorgeous vases

another giant orchid!

no baby seats required for babies in China...so they get to have a look out the window

our new cat, Baozi....the cat we brought from the US ran away....

she is super cute, but still in very feisty kitten mode

I thought this elderly couple looked so cute on the scooter together

Here are some pics of my scooter.  I thought I posted them on my blog, but I think I just posted some on facebook.  I love it!  I go everywhere on it. 

of course I had to add some Hello Kitty flair

also a sticker representing my home state of MI

a new adventure indeed....

I got myself a new gig.  The above picture shows what I will be doing.  I will be helping prep students who want to go to college in the United States, both undergrad and grad school.  I will be prepping them in United States History!

Maybe many of my friends and family are reading this post laughing, feeling scared for my future students or thinking this is just plain crazy.  And I feel/felt the same way, believe me.  I had been approached by wife of one of Michael's co-workers when we first moved here asking if I was interested in working.  She and her husband are Chinese by birth, so they both speak the language.  When her husband came here to work she opened her own company doing test prep for Chinese kids wanting to go to college in the U.S.

When she approached me months back, I was reluctant because I just did not think my brain was up to the task.  I thought that it is a big responsibility.  And for sure I lack the confidence to teach on a subject matter such as United States History and also World History for the SAT.  I know I am not completely unintelligent. I graduated high school at the very top of my class.  I graduated college with no problem, but it has been many years and my brain has probably gone a bit mushy.  I told her I would, but maybe I was not the most qualified.  She let the matter drop, but just re-approached me a couple weeks ago asking me again if I would be interested in teaching.  It will be one on one, not a classroom setting which I think will be more comfortable for me, so I told her I would give it a try.

Michael thinks I do not give myself enough credit.  He is a good husband like that, always trying to boost my confidence.  He in no way pushes me to work here in China, but I think secretly he also knows any income I can bring in will help off set any shopping that may happen from time to time. ☺

I have taken a look at these test prep books and I for sure will have to do some studying and prepping ahead of time to bring myself up to par.  It is not going to be easy, but I think it will be a good challenge.  So I am going to give it a try and see how it goes.  Who knows I could surprise myself.  ☺ I'll keep you posted!

What's going on.....

Hello Eveyone!  Sorry it has been so long since I have posted.  Things are pretty quiet on this side of the world.  What started out as new and unknown has turned into everyday normal for us. As a result, I have less to write about because we now have settled into a routine and all the stuff that was once wacky to us, is now just everyday life.  And that is a good thing.  We have been blessed to have adjusted well.  But for my blog that means I don't have a lot of new stuff to write about on a daily basis.   

Michael is away on business right now and I had painting class this morning.  I still have language class a couple days a week and I recently met with someone about volunteering around Nanjing. 

I also recently got a scooter which has given me much more freedom and independence.  I love it!  Some days I just ride around town, seeing what new things I can come across. 

One of our friends from the States was in Shanghai last weekend, so we went and visited with him.  He will be here in Nanjing next week.  Other than that we have been laying pretty low and just enjoying life.  I will leave you with some pictures that I took while on my scooter.

always amazes me how much people can carry on their bikes

mom and son riding around town

this is the kind of scooter traffic I have had to get used to driving in

love how parents ride around with kids on their bikes and scooters....the kids always looks so cute, but I think there might be some safety issues going on here

tanks of propane.....hmmmm....definitely a safety issue

another little girl on the back of mom's scooter

here is a family of 3 on a scooter..I think the mom is driving and grandma was on the back holding the baby

I would tip over if I had this much stuff strapped to my scooter

sun protection

another big load on a bike....looks like a whole bunch of bumpers